When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable late-round fantasy football picks I target in drafts.
Fantasy Football Draft Targets: Late-Round Quarterbacks
Let’s dive into late-round draft picks I target.
Brock Purdy continues to hum along as a QB1 in fantasy after finishing as the QB10 and QB6 in fantasy points per game over the last two seasons. Last year, Purdy flashed some rushing upside, too, as he ranked 11th in rushing yards and seventh in rushing scores among quarterbacks. Last year, he ranked third in yards per attempt, ninth in CPOE, and tenth in fantasy points per dropback. While Brandon Aiyuk could get off to a slow start this season, Purdy still has plenty of weapons at his disposal with Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings. Purdy should lead one of the best offenses in the NFL again this season that could be pushed to throw more if their defense takes a hit.
Yes, I know we haven’t seen J.J. McCarthy play outside of an abbreviated preseason sample last year, but I’ll be targeting him everywhere this season. This should remain a pass-happy offense after ranking eighth in neutral passing rate and third in pass rate over expectation last year (per Fantasy Points Data). The Vikings remain loaded with skill players and added to the offensive line this offseason to give their new signal caller all the time in the world to dice up opposing pass defenses in 2025. Sam Darnold (yes, that Sam Darnold) finished as the QB9 in fantasy points per game last year, continuing a long history of Kevin O’Connel’s quarterbacks finishing as QB1s. I believe McCarthy will keep that streak alive. He was a stellar prospect who has been airdropped into the perfect situation. In his final collegiate season, McCarthy ranked inside the top 12 FBS quarterbacks in passing grade, adjusted completion rate, yards per attempt, adjusted completion rate with downfield throws, and against pressure (per PFF). It’s wheels up for McCarthy in 2025.
Prescott is an amazing late-round quarterback value. He is primed to return to the QB1 ranks in 2025. With George Pickens added opposite CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson, and Jalen Tolbert, Prescott has enough weaponry at his disposal to excel in Dallas’s pass-centric offense. Last year, in Weeks 1-8, Dallas ranked eighth in neutral passing rate and tenth in pass rate over expectation. Last year, Prescott’s passing touchdown rate dipped to 3.8%, which was the first time since 2020 that his passing touchdown rate had dipped below 5.8%. Prescott will throw for more touchdowns in 2025. We’re only one season removed from him finishing as the QB4 in fantasy points per game, seventh in yards per attempt, eighth in CPOE, and sixth-best in highly accurate throw rate (per Fantasy Points Data). Invest in Prescott.
Last year, Justin Herbert finished as the QB14 in fantasy points per game, but his season was a tale of two halves. Herbert sustained a foot injury in camp and a high ankle sprain in Week 3 that impacted his early season efficiency. In Weeks 1-6, Herbert was the QB27 in fantasy points per game, averaging 163 passing yards per game with 6.5 yards per attempt and 5.2 rushing yards per game. In Weeks 7-18, all of those numbers improved as he was the QB11 in fantasy points per game. During that span, among 32 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranked seventh in passing yards per game (254.6), sixth in yards per attempt (8.1), fourth in CPOE, second in hero throw rate, and averaged 23.3 rushing yards (per Fantasy Points Data). With more receiving options added to the depth chart this offseason, Herbert could be a QB1 this season, but he’s best viewed as a rock-solid QB2.
Drake Maye made the best he could last year with a pitiful supporting cast. His offensive line was patchwork at best, and arguably, his top two pass catchers were Hunter Henry and DeMario Douglas. Despite all of this, in the nine games Maye played at least 90% of the snaps, he averaged 18.7 fantasy points per game, which would have placed him as the QB11 last year. In those contests, he averaged. 36.8 rushing yards per game, which would have ranked fifth among quarterbacks last season. Overall, among 40 qualifying quarterbacks, Maye ranked 27th in yards per attempt, 17th in CPOE, 11th in highly accurate throw rate, 18th in hero throw rate, and had the 13th-highest turnover-worthy throw rate (per Fantasy Points Data). The rushing output will factor in heavily this season for Maye and his fantasy outlook. The additions of Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, offensive line help, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can only help Maye in 2025. He’s a strong QB2 who could finish as a QB1 this season.
If you’re looking to punt quarterback in your drafts this season, Matthew Stafford should be in the mix for your fantasy football teams. Before tailing off at the end of last season, with Puka Nacua back in the huddle, Stafford was performing as the QB11 in fantasy points per game. During that stretch, he was ranked tenth in yards per attempt, sixth in passer rating, and 11th in highly accurate throw rate and fantasy points per dropback (per Fantasy Points Data). Cooper Kupp is gone and replaced by the always awesome Davante Adams. Tyler Higbee will be ready to roll and Terrance Ferguson has been added as his heir apparent. Stafford could turn back the clock in 2025 with another QB1 season for fantasy football.
Last year was disastrous for Stroud as he tumbled from the QB7 in fantasy points per game to the QB28. Everything that could have gone wrong did. His offensive line imploded. Nico Collins was in and out of the lineup, while Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs were lost to season-ending injuries. Stroud didn’t help matters with the fifth-highest time to throw and the 15th-highest pressure-to-sack ratio (per Fantasy Points Data). Stroud will operate behind a retooled offensive line in 2025 that honestly couldn’t be worse than what he dealt with last year. The skill player cabinet has been restocked with a nice mix of veterans and youth, with the additions of Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins, Jayllin Noel, Nick Chubb, and Justin Watson. Everything is setting up nicely for Stroud to make a run as a top-12 fantasy quarterback again this season.
The light finally came on for Bryce Young down the stretch last year. In Weeks 12-18, he was the QB8 in fantasy points per game, averaging 25.4 rushing yards per game, which would have ranked 12th-best overall last year. During that stretch, among 34 qualifying quarterbacks, Young ranked eighth in CPOE, 12th in highly accurate throw rate, and second in hero throw rate (per Fantasy Points Data). He was aggressively pushing the ball downfield with the fifth-highest deep throw rate in the NFL behind only Josh Allen, Anthony Richardson, Lamar Jackson, and Jordan Love. Young is a sneaky QB2 option for 2025 who could again flirt with QB1 production if he can keep up the stellar play of late 2024 and quickly get on the same page with Tetairoa McMillan.
Geno Smith was the QB15 in fantasy points per game on the strength of operating in an offense that ranked fourth in passing attempts. I don’t know if he’ll be afforded anywhere near that amount of volume with the Raiders, but Smith also checked more than a few boxes for strong quarterback play last season. Among 40 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranked 13th in yards per attempt, fourth in CPOE, and tenth in highly accurate throw rate (per Fantasy Points Data). The wheels came off for Smith when he was pressured, and that happened often in 2024 as he faced the sixth-most pressures in the NFL. Last year, when pressured, Smith ranked 35th in passer rating with the fourth-highest turnover-worthy throw rate while sitting at 17th in adjusted completion rate. When Smith passed from a clean pocket, he ranked 13th in passer rating, had the 23rd-lowest turnover-worthy throw rate, and was second in adjusted completion rate. The move from Seattle to Las Vegas could benefit Smith’s pressure sensitivity greatly as the Raiders were 14th in pass blocking grade last season (Seattle 19th). I don’t think Smith has the juice to be a QB1 this season, but he could easily turn in high-end QB2 numbers again this season with plenty of splash performances for the quarterback-streaming crowd.
Tua Tagovailoa‘s concussion history is well-known, so I won’t be diving into that here. Anyone drafting Tagovailoa is well aware at this point of the risk that he carries weekly. Let’s discuss what he did when on the field last season. Miami went with a conservative “get the ball out of his hands QUICKLY” approach last season. Among 40 qualifying quarterbacks last season, he had the lowest aDOT (5.9) and the second-lowest time to throw behind only Copper Rush (per Fantasy Points Data). While this Chad Pennington-esque approach hurt his receivers, it didn’t impact Tagovailoa’s fantasy output, as he was the QB13 in fantasy points per game. Among the previous subset of quarterbacks discussed, he also ranked 18th in yards per attempt, eighth in passer rating, tenth in CPOE, and first in highly accurate throw rate. Tagovailoa should be a strong QB2 this season. If he can manage a spike in passing touchdown rate in 2025, he might flirt with low-end QB1 production.
